[tkathy]

It's appalling to realize how close Western Civilization came to be a barbaric muslim thugocracy.

[Antoninus]

Traditionally, the underlying, fictitious truth has been expressed in fabulous religions.

Red flag #1...

Sails were just coming into use then, to supplant galley slaves for centuries thereafter as the primary source of locomotion on the seas.

Bzzzt. That's just erroneous.

The battle of Lepanto remains a moment in Western history when great powers in Christendom - Spain, Genoa, Venice, and several Papal states - gained victory over Islam.

Great powers? Genoa, Venice, and the Papal States were regional powers at best in 1571. Spain, yes. And no mention of the greatest Catholic power of all at the time: France. I smell an agenda.

The merchants of the West in 1571 made the world safer for trade, just as the merchants of the West are making the world safer for trade in 2004.

And there you have it. The economic explanation--all wars are fought to further commercial enterprises: the classic conclusion reached by *every* marxist historian.

Overall, a scattered, poorly argued, and intellectually vacuous article.

[txzman]

Great article. I loved learning about the history of Venice while there a few years back. Amazing to think that it, not Germany, Rome or Russia - was the only Republic to last 1,000 years in independence.

[Stagerite]

Good article -- bookmarked!